The Games We Play
by TheGingerNextDoor
Summary: Garcia finds a roleplay site dedicated to Criminal Minds...a fun, fluffy fic.
1. Chapter 1

The Games We Play

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is property of CBS Entertainment. Also, the Criminal Psychology Role Play game is the brainchild of Danny Ellenwood. The names of the role players have been changed to protect the guilty J

0700 Hours

BAU HQ

Quantico, VA

Penelope Garcia sat in her office early one morning. She'd come with Kevin, who had an early morning meeting, and she was bored, so she wandered down to her office and opened her personal laptop. She also turned on the BAU's computer system, just to get it warmed up for the day.

She began to play her favorite role play game, and was frustrated to find no one else online. She got an idea; she'd Google role play gaming sites instead, to find the next epic thing. She clicked a few screens, and her screen suddenly lit up with millions of results. She set about clicking through a few; discarding the war and police games-they were to close to home, and instead finding interest in the time-travel games.

A specific link caught her eye. It was a link to a role-play game called "Criminal Psychology." This could be interesting, she thought, so she clicked it. She was taken to site that claimed to be the most epic criminal psychology role-play game on the web. She smiled, and immediately e-mailed the site administrator.

"Hello, I am Penelope Garcia of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. May I please join?" A moment later, an email pop up appeared on her screen, and she clicked it.

"Hi, welcome. My name is Casey; I noticed your PM to Dave. I am the Member Moderator. Please feel free to join us; we could use a *real* FBI agent around here. Um, you can pick a "canon" character, one that appears on the show, or you can just be your own character-agent or unsub. Jargon: Canon means a permanent figure or character. Unsub means, specifically, "unspecified subject". Or, in laymen's terms, "bad guy." Thanks for your interest."

Garcia shook her head in confusion-what TV show? She typed back an email to the girl.

"Casey, what is this "show" you refer to? Thanks, Penelope."

A moment later, a popup with a link and a note appeared.

"Penelope-this role play is based on the TV show "Criminal Minds." You know, the one about the FBI criminal profilers? Anyway, I've included a link to their main webpage on the station they're on. All the best."

Garcia's eyes grew big, and she clicked the link, discovering the television show that paralleled their real jobs, and to an extent, their lives. It was called "Criminal Minds."

Penelope spoke aloud.

"I've got to show this to the others." She shook her head, clicked back over to the role-play site, and began to fill out the character application. Of course, she applied to play the character like hers, the fake FBI's computer analyst. She completed the application, and chose her favorite old movie star as her face player, Faye Dunaway.

A few moments later, another popup appeared.

"Welcome, Supreme Genius Garcia. We've just began our first case, be sure to check that out. Also, make sure to introduce yourself, and feel free to begin posting any ol' place."

Penelope found herself excited, and she paused for a moment to refill her coffee. She settled back into her seat just in time to see JJ enter the Bullpen, Spencer behind her, both deep in conversation with each other. Penelope smiled; JJ and Spencer were her two favorite co-workers, and she stood and raced into the Bullpen, interrupting the two as she spoke excitedly, and probably two octaves too high.

"Guys, come on, you two have to check this out," she began pulling JJ by her arm to her office, causing the other woman to laugh.

"Geez, Pen. Can I put my purse down first?" Penelope pouted, but nodded.

"Hey, Spence. Ok, fine. Go put your bag down, Spence, grab some coffee. There's something you need to see. Meet me in my office in five."

Spencer smiled one of his closed-mouthed smiles and glanced at JJ, who shrugged. Penelope was acting as though her information was crucial, and so JJ moved. She spoke to Spencer as she strode across the Bullpen towards her office.

"It sounds important; maybe the Director found her first. I guess we better go." Spencer nodded, removed his coat, and placed his messenger bag across his chair. He helped himself to a cup of coffee from the break room, then hurried to Garcia's office. He settled into a chair the Penelope indicated as JJ entered and took a seat, as well.

"Ok, since you two workaholics were the first one's here, you two get in on the epicness first." JJ glanced at Spencer and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged, suddenly weary of his co-worker's motive for calling them into the office. Penelope continued.

"Anyway, Kev had an early meeting; something about new proxy servers for the joint Agencies task force. I was super bored hanging around upstairs, so I came down here to role-play. And my usual RP site was quiet; apparently all the other computer nerds except me are in California for the gaming convention. So, I start to search for a new role-play game, and guess what I find? You'll never guess. I found a role play site, and, actually, a TV show that's totally based on the BAU. It's totally awesome; they even have a young male genius character and everything. They got it pretty well right." She stopped speaking to take a breath, and JJ giggled.

"Penny. Slow down. Let me get this right-you just happened to be Googling stuff this morning, and came across a TV show that parallels us?"

"Yup. It's called "Criminal Minds." I sent everyone a link. Make sure to check out the chick who plays you…it's a creepy resemblance. And, you, Spence, look-" She pulled up some pictures and the face of a young, good looking actor danced across her screen, causing him to smile. "They even have a boy genius character. I LOVE it." She giggled again, and JJ nodded. Spencer shook his head; he was amazed that Garcia considered this "epically important". He spoke.

"Garcia, I have a lot of work to do…" He trailed off when JJ shot him a look. He shrugged again, sighed, and settled back. "But maybe you can tell me more about this boy genius character." Penelope smiled, and clicked a few keys, bringing a YouTube video up on her screen. She pressed play, and the three settled in as the theme music and opening scene began. JJ smiled when "she" appeared on the screen, the woman's face grimacing as she spoke into a phone, seemingly talking about a case.

"Yes, yes, sir. No, I understand the gravity of the case, but I think you're really better off with the Computer Crimes unit. Let me transfer you." Just then, an older, brunette man entered the scene. He spoke.

"Do you have the case file?" The blonde woman nodded, and stood. She was a little shorter than their JJ, but Penelope had been right; the resemblance was creepy.

"Yes, sir. It's here," the woman handed the file to the brunette man, and continued. "Also, the director has requested ten minutes after the de-briefing." Penelope paused the video, and turned to Spencer and JJ, her brown eyes dancing with excitement.

"There's a ton; like six season's worth. Some of it is a little over-the-top, like their version of Prentiss is actually a redhead with a penchant for bad boys, and I actually know of no FBI agent who would enter a crime scene unarmed. And the blood is a little overplayed; there's red corn syrup up the wazoo, but otherwise, it's a good representation." JJ chuckled, but stood.

"Ok, Pen. Thanks for sharing. Look, it's almost 8; the others will be here soon. Can you please get the meeting room ready for real, live cases?" Penelope's face fell for a moment, and she nodded.

"Of course. Thanks, guys." JJ smiled as Spencer stood, stretching his long, lanky frame and grinning.

"Actually, Garcia, I thought it was kind of cool." Penelope smiled, and waved as the two agents left her office. She glanced back at the computer, and the still image of the fake JJ and Hotch, and sighed.

"We'll play later, OK, guys?" she said, as she left the office.

End of Chap. 1


	2. Chapter 2

The Games We Play

Chap. 2-A Face to the Name

1200 Hours

FBI HQ

Quantico, VA

Penelope entered her office, carrying her lunch box, and settling down for some epic role playing before the team took off for Hawaii, and catching a serial rapist. She opened her personal laptop, and flipped over to the role play site before biting into her sandwich. She took a few bites as she thought about her next move. She clicked the tab that read "BAU Cases" and was taken to a new page. This one had a scroll-down menu that had numerous titles: "BAU Major Cases", "Minor Cases", "The Bullpen", and "Other Units." She noticed that the tab under "Major Cases" had the most activity, so she clicked it.

She was taken to a new page that read "Welcome." She read through the welcome, their newest case was written by a site member, and was kind of dark and creepy: three sorority girls had been kidnapped and found dead, apparently as part of a ritualistic sacrifice. Penelope giggled, and began a new post.

"_Penelope clicked over, repeating to Hotch that she had the phone line nailed. She turned to JJ, who was standing nearby, and smiled before she spoke. "JJ, get Prentiss on the line…the unsub is right behind her."_

She hit "enter" and refreshed the page, waiting for a response. She finished her sandwich and opened her soda when a knock came at her door.

"Come in." It was Hotch, followed by JJ, and Penelope smiled.

"What can I do for ya, Boss?" Hotch nodded, and smiled a tight smile.

"I got that link that you sent us all earlier. Tell me more about this TV profiling show." Garcia grimaced, and looked up at JJ, who shrugged, and replied.

"I'm just here to watch more. I though it was a good show. I called home and asked Will to DVR it." Garcia shook her head, but turned to Hotch.

"Ok," she clicked off the role-play site and opened her media viewer, clicking on the same link she'd shown JJ and Spencer earlier. "Look, here's YOU, or the fake you, I guess. And here's Rossi, and Em." She pointed out the characters as she spoke. Hotch nodded, and watched in interest. It was silent for a few minutes, until he spoke.

"Actually, they do a pretty accurate job at profiling. I mean, the blood and guts are a little over the top, and the guy they have playing the role similar to Reid is way too good looking to be a real agent, but I think it's good, don't you?" Garcia nodded.

"Yep. Also, there's this really cool MMORPG site."

"What?"

"Multi-Member Online Role Play Game. Basically, people pretend to be playing characters. Usually, it's done with fantasy characters, like the Twilight vampires, but this one is based on the show."

"Interesting. I take it that you've begun to play along?" Garcia nodded, but bit her lip.

"Ok, just make sure you don't reveal anything classified, and no playing on Bureau time." Garcia smiled.

"I understand. Thanks." Hotch nodded, and excused himself. JJ left then, too, and Penelope clicked back over to the role-play site. She got another PM, from the same moderator as usual.

"Penelope, thanks for your first post. Please don't forget to post a little bit about yourself in the "Face to the Name" tab. Again, good job on your first post…I can't wait to hear your input.-Casey."

Penelope smiled, and clicked the tab under "A Face to the Name," and it brought up a lot of pictures with each player's blurb about themselves. Penelope clicked on Casey's first, reading that the girl was in her late 20's, was a hairdresser from California, and was dating someone. She played both the Spencer and Derek characters, and Garcia smiled.

She clicked around some more, and discovered a tab for relationship statuses, and clicked it. She discovered some fun news-the fake Morgan wasn't dating anyone, and neither was the fake her. She could have her romantic Morgan fantasy, and still be loyal to Kevin…right? Right. So she sent a PM to Casey, and outlined her idea for a Morgan/Garcia pairing. A few moments later, she received a response.

"Pen-What the hell? It might be fun. I'll start the thread, OK?" Garcia smiled, and immediately picked up her phone and dialed *her* Morgan. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, girl."

"Guess what? Remember that role-play game I was telling you about? And the TV show? Ohmigod, these women have paired us together." Morgan rolled his eyes, and continued to speak as he headed for her office.

"Calm down. Is there no Kevin character?"

"Duh, like anyone wants to pretend to be an IT technician who lives in his parent's basement and owes more on his school loans than I do in rent for the rest of my life? Hell no." Morgan chuckled as he appeared in her doorway.

"Be careful, baby girl. Sometimes art can imitate life."

"I have a pretty good grip on reality, you know."

"I know. Have fun with it."

"I will." Morgan nodded and turned to leave. Garcia spoke.

"Hey, Derek? You want to role play with me?"

"No, we've got a case."

"I know." Garcia turns back to her computer, and reluctantly closes it.

"We'll try again, guys. The real FBI calls."

End of Chap. 2


	3. Chapter 3

_The Games we Play, Chap. 3-Catching Emily_

_Author's Note: I apologize if the Garcia text is hard to read; but I wanted to differentiate between her and the rest of the text without being super-obnoxious and using an underline._

_1300 Hours_

_FBI HQ_

_Quantico, VA_

_Penelope sighed in weariness; this was a hard case. There was a child missing, taken by his babysitter, but now Hotch and Rossi were on the scene, and she had a few hours of free time before the others would be contacting her…hopefully. She kicked off her shoes, and kneaded her tired toes into the soft carpet under her chair. She opened her laptop, and clicked over to the role play site, signed in, and scrolled around the site. She smiled when she found the tab labeled "the Case." She began to read the brief case intro, which stated that the case involved an unsub kidnapping the Prentiss character because the unsub believed that Prentiss, in a CIA capacity, issued the unsub's father's burn notice. _

_Garcia quickly scanned the posts in the thread, and noticed that they were all in the third person. She had chosen a random model as her avatar, and when she posted her piece, she smiled as the photo came up. _

"_Just then, Garcia called Hotch's phone with the information that she, hacker extraordinaire, had culled from millions of little tiny bits of data. The unsub was not, as the others believed, a janitor, for his phone records didn't match. Instead, it was a young woman by the name of Eva Lange. She spoke in a soft singsong when Hotch answered. _

_Sir? It's me, with that information you wanted? The phone records aren't a match to the janitor, but I discovered something mighty odd about the other name you had me check. Right before Prentiss went missing, a phone call was made to her cell. Now, Prentiss-I love her, but she's boring and predictable- usually gets the same phone calls on her cell-me, you, JJ, and her mother. Sometimes Reid, too. But there was a number there, and it only showed up in recent weeks. But here's the rub-the number shows up numerous times. I traced the number, and it comes from a cell phone. The number traces back to a one Ms. Eva Lange." _

_She pressed post, and sat back to review her post. She nodded to herself; it sounded like her, definitely, very perky, but still professional. She smiled in satisfaction and turned to her work computer as her phone rang. It was the real Hotch, and she sighed, but answered. _

"_Sir?" _

"_Garcia, I need some details about the first witness. He's gone missing, and Prentiss is with JJ, and she had his contact info. I need an address." Penelope nodded, and clicked some keys. _

"_Ok. It's 107 West 49__th__ St., apartment B." _

"_Thanks, Garcia." _

"_No problem." _

_Penelope clicked off with Hotch, and sighed, looking longingly at her computer. She worked steadily for a few more minutes, double-checking that each team member had all of the pertinent info. When she was satisfied that they did, she turned back to her laptop. _

_She was excited to learn that someone had replied to her post-the one who played the fake Morgan character. "He" was flirting, as she and the real Morgan often did. _

"_Hey, girl, thanks for the info, and keep up the good work. I think we're about to nail the woman who has Em. Want to grab a drink after?" Penelope smiled, and replied in the affirmative. _

_Then a text buzzed on her work phone, and she rolled her eyes, but perked up when she saw it was her Morgan, with a message. _

"_Hey, we caught the SOB. Coming home. When we get there, JJ invited us to her place to watch that show you were geeking about. You and Kevin game?" Penelope nodded again, and texted back. _

"'_Course. Tell the others I say Hi." A moment later came his reply. _

"_Will do. Gotta go. Catch ya later." She smiled as the screen went blank again. _

_End of Part 3_


	4. Chapter 4

The Games we Play, Part 4-Alpha et Omega

Author's Note: So I think I am going to wrap it up here…but maybe I'll add more later. Thanks for your lovely reviews! Enjoy!

Later that Evening

Penelope sat in her office, awaiting the arrival of the others, and drinking coffee with Kevin. She was showing him her discovery, and he was crowing with laughter at her revelations.

"Honey, see, there's a Morgan character, and a Hotch. OOOh, and here's Spence-he has a girlfriend, which is freakin' funny, and looksy-even Unsubs. This is the coolest thing ever. Though I don't get why our work is more interesting than other in the FBI, but whatever tickles your fancy, right?" Kevin nodded.

"Yes, dear." He shook his head and placed a kiss on her forehead as she continued.

"Can you believe it? It's so cool. OHMIGOD, Derek was right, I *am* geeking out, aren't I?"

"No, you're just excited."

"I am."

"Tell me more about these characters? Why is there no ME? If there's a Penney, there has to be a Kevin." Penelope blushed.

"Well, the girl who plays the Derek-type character is actually trying to get him together with my character…" she said, gently, and in a tone that indicated that she had nothing to do with it.

"I see. And what does the fake Penelope think about that?" Penney rolled her eyes.

"She might be game. But the *real* Penelope Garcia is happy with her Kevin Lynch, OK?" He smiled, and then nodded.

"I'm glad. When are the others due back?"

"Anytime." Just then, a knock at the door to her office startled the couple.

"Come in." Penelope smiled when JJ poked her head through the door.

"We're back. Hey, Agent Lynch. Pen, we're all meeting in a few hours at my place."

"I know, Morgan told me."

"Great. Well, we'll see you two there." The two computer techs nodded and JJ shut the door again, shaking her head. Kevin excused himself to Penney, and hurried back to his floor.

Penelope turned back to her computer, and checked the message board. The fake Rossi and Morgan had found Emily alive and Penney smiled; she liked it when cases-whether real or fake-ended well.

She typed out a final message for the evening.

"Back in her office at the BAU, Penelope sighed in triumphant joy. They had caught the unsub, the poor girl, and Emily was safe. Penelope quickly put the team on video chat via Spencer's tablet, and spoke.

Hi, Guys. Heard you guys were successful. I am heading home for the evening; if you need anything else, that's where I am. Garcia out."

She clicked "post" and sat back, satisfied. Just then, Hotch's knock came at her office door.

"It's open, sir." He opened the door and entered her office.

"Garcia, thanks for your help, as always. I was informed just now about a change in protocol, and from now, you will need to start submitting after-action reports like the others. I can have JJ show you how. But I need one on my desk by tomorrow morning, OK?" Penelope raised a well-manicured eyebrow, but nodded.

"I understand. Thanks."

"Of course. Are you and Agent Lynch joining the gang at JJ's?"

"Yes. Will you be there?"

"Unfortunately, no. Jack has an open-house event at school this evening," he said.

"I see. Well, just so you know, in the fake FBI world, Jack turns out to be a great kid. They pair you up with Prentiss, you know." Hotch nodded once.

"Well, thank you. I will see you tomorrow."

"Bye." Penelope clicked off her computer as her boss left her office, and clicked open her email, where she had noted that JJ had sent her a template for the after-action report, so she spent the next 45 minutes working on it.

She printed the report, shut down her computer, and gathered her bag and jacket before exiting her office.

She smiled at the others as she entered the Bullpen, and approached Morgan's desk.

"Hi. I am going to drop this silly thing off, find Kevin, and then hurry to JJ's. Anybody need anything before I go?" The others shook their heads, and she smiled, then turned away, heading for Hotch's office. She handed him her report, waved at JJ as she walked by for the elevator, heading for the third floor, where Kevin was working on Computer Crimes these days.

An hour later, she is sitting in JJ's living room, sandwiched between Spencer and Kevin, who were chatting about Star Wars, or maybe Star Trek? She wasn't listening-and holding Henry. In front of her, on the floor, Derek was sitting with his head against her legs, and in an armchair, Will and JJ were wrapped up together. On the opposite side of the room, Rossi and Prentiss occupied some chairs that Will had brought in from their kitchen. JJ passed around a bowl of popcorn and then picked up the remote as Penelope shushed her boyfriend and Spence. She fought the urge to squeal in delight as the opening scenes for the TV show began. She noted that the episode that was playing was called "Hidden By the Law" and the team was out after a serial killer in Kentucky, where three teenaged girls had been found strangled and sexually assaulted.

She sighed in happiness, and snuggled Henry closer to her, and watched as the team did their thing.

The end.


End file.
